ROCHESTER — A local man sentenced to what could become life in prison for the 2000 murder of 21-month-old Kassidy Bortner has hired a private investigator who runs an "exoneration services" business in an effort to clear his name.

Chad Evans, 38, formerly of Milton Road in Rochester, is currently inmate number 75414 at the N.H. State Prison for Men, serving 43 years to life after being convicted of killing Kassidy, who was his girlfriend's daughter.

Morrison Bonpasse runs Bonpasse Exoneration Services out of Newcastle, Maine. Evans' family hired Bonpasse after Evans read a Boston-area newspaper report on one of Bonpasse's clients in November 2009.

Will Delker of the N.H. Attorney General's Office remembers the Bortner case as "one of the worst cases I've done." He helped prosecute the case and can still vividly remember the horrific details. He said a "conglomeration of injuries" to Kassidy's abdomen, face, arms and legs essentially liquified her body fat, which sent the fat into the blood stream and caused her lungs to stop breathing.

Delker acknowledged it was a "circumstantial case" but one that included some compelling evidence. In addition to murder, Evans was also charged with breaking Kassidy's bones, bruising her face and throwing her into a wall, according to indictments filed against him.

Delker said multiple witnesses provided "damning" testimony about signs of distinct pattern injuries Kassidy suffered. Witnesses noticed bruising and fingerprints on her face. Some testified Evans and Amanda Bortner, Kassidy's mother, began concealing the girl from family and friends and told "preposterous stories" about her injuries, he said.

Delker said expert testimony from a medical examiner explained the injuries Kassidy sustained were typical of pattern child abuse. He said all child fatality cases are "terrible," but noted the continued abuse over time was "essentially torture" for Kassidy.

He said Kassidy changed from a "vivacious, flourishing child" into a timid, frightened coward who shied away from others.

"That is cruel, it's torture, it's horrible," he said, adding he believes there is no basis for revisiting the case and "the jury had all the evidence and rejected Chad's defense."

Bonpasse, however, has taken on the task of correcting what he sees as the wrongful conviction of Evans, who was alleged to have caused the trauma that led to Kassidy's death on Nov. 9, 2000.

Bonpasse said Evans met Amanda Bortner in June 2000. He said they quickly fell in love and moved in together. Evans also had a child from a previous relationship, Bonpasse said.

On the morning of Kassidy's death she was dropped off at the home of babysitter Jeff Marshall, a Kittery, Maine, landscaper who was friends with Evans and Bortner. That afternoon, Kassidy became unresponsive and rescue crews were called to Marshall's home. Bonpasse said Kassidy was pronounced dead at York Hospital.

During the investigation that followed, police learned of some bruises people had noticed on Kassidy's body over the past several months. Bonpasse said the most recent bruising occurred the evening before Kassidy's death. He said Evans's version of events states he was playing baseball with his son and a ball hit Kassidy in the eye. Bonpasse described it as a ball used in T-ball.

"The medical examiner said that's not possible," Delker said, explaining the injuries were inconsistent with Evans's story.

According to Bonpasse, police did not believe a baseball hit her at all and instead suspected Evans of abusing the child. He said they then based their case around that belief and searched for evidence to corroborate it instead of keeping an open mind.

The suspicions led police to learn more about allegations of abuse. Bonpasse said Evans admits to on one occasion grabbing Kassidy's chin to get her attention, and once when she used a swear word, flicking her lips "like flicking a fly off a corncob."

The website Bonpasse created includes an extensive list of the types of contact Evans had with Kassidy before her death. These include everything from hugs and kisses to the T-ball story and other accidental injuries. Bonpasse said a number of falls and accidents may have caused Kassidy's fatal injuries.

One entry, written by Evans, states, "Once in early October, I carried Kassidy downstairs on my shoulders, and I didn't duck enough for the low overhang, and Kassidy hit her head. I think it left a faint bruise on her forehead."

Evans denies on the website ever striking Kassidy, saying, "I never hit Kassidy. Not for discipline, nor for any reason."

Evans did not testify in his defense and never spoke publicly about the case, which Bonpasse believes was a major mistake. He said the jury never had a chance to hear from a "good man" and "loving father." Evans was also never asked to take a lie-detector test, he said.

He was convicted in 2001 on charges of second-degree murder and several counts of assault. His sentence was originally 28 years to life in prison, but was later increased by 15 years to 43 years to life after a petition to the Sentence Review Division of the court system, Bonpasse said.

Prosecutors were able to petition for higher sentences after a law change on Jan. 1, 2002. The U.S. District Court recently issued a decision denying Evans' challenge of the constitutionality of the law, according to Bonpasse.

Amanda Bortner was also incarcerated after a conviction on child endangerment. She has since been released and, according to the website, got married in 2007.

Bonpasse said he does not know Bortner's current feelings about Evans' situation, but noted she has supported him in the past, even going on "The John Walsh Show" and proclaiming his innocence.

He said it appears police thought Evans was "minimizing the seriousness" of things he had done with Kassidy, but said others likely did the same in their police interviews. He indicated none of the adults around Kassidy realized the potential seriousness of her injuries, which visibly manifested themselves in the form of bruises, except for Evans' ex-wife, who had contacted the Division for Children, Youth and Families shortly before Kassidy's death.

"I only work for people I believe to be innocent ... It doesn't make sense to me that this man could have possibly done these things to a girl he loved," Bonpasse said. "It's totally without evidence except for the bruising."

Bonpasse got involved in wrongful conviction cases in 2003. He said history shows many thousands of people have been wrongfully convicted of crimes they did not commit.

Evans' family is paying Bonpasse $6 per hour for his efforts. He said that, if Evans is ever exonerated, Evans will also pay him for his work, at a rate of $60 per hour. Bonpasse said he works about 40 hours per week on the case.

Bonpasse continues to work toward his goal — "the exoneration of an innocent man." He said this campaign will last as many years as it takes to persuade the people and government of New Hampshire that Evans was wrongly convicted. If "credible evidence" surfaces that proves Evans is guilty, Bonpasse said he will end the campaign immediately.